Woman Operates Two Businesses, Working With Wellness Issues And Company Branding

By Susan E. Campbell
Media marketing solutions and health and wellness services are being covered in the career of Antoinette DiMascio.
DiMascio is chief financial officer of Newkey Media Solutions and founder of Newkey Esthetics and Wellness in Ballston Lake, two seemingly disparate businesses. Yet there is an overarching theme under which she connects them—relationship enrichment.
“Whether building a brand or employing therapeutic techniques, it’s still about working on a relationship,” said DiMascio, who is a licensed cosmetologist and asethetician, a certified yoga instructor, and a doctoral candidate in metaphysics and religious studies.
DiMascio has had a successful business providing beauty and wellness products, classes, and training for more than 250 clients over the years. But when she was getting married and planning a family with the owner of a design firm, she “had to make a decision about which way to go.”
“My husband Patrick started Newkey as a graphic design studio in 1998,” said DiMascio. “I joined in 2002 and we have expanded into a full-service media solutions agency.”
Newkey’s offerings include brand development, digital marketing, social media, photography, web design and hosting, copywriting, and more.
“The heart of our process involves being super-mindful of understanding the client’s purposes and pursuing the right things,” she said. “If you are clear about your goals and true to yourself, things come out better.”
The DiMascios call their trademarked approach meditative marketing.
“A meditative marketing session is a rather intimate look at who the client is and what that company wants,” said DiMascio. “Owners may not understand how to express their brand and purpose or why they want to pursue certain goals.”
“Perhaps they want to leave a legacy or be the very best at what they do,” she said. “Clients come out of this session with true purpose, clarity and focus. Not all clients are into the meditative aspect, they just want to take their business to the next level. But we have to understand them so we can take their brand in the right direction.”
DiMascio said sometimes when clients or their employees are dealing with a physical or emotional trauma in their lives, it can alter how they perceive things and, understandably, affect their focus.
“Thus they can misdirect their efforts in the business,” said DiMascio. “With my meditative marketing sessions, I work with them to peacefully overcome that. Our company is not about throwing a logo together but about getting back to the basics to achieve success.”
Newkey offers the full spectrum of marketing channels, from business cards and billboards, to newspaper and magazine advertising, to web site design and social media campaigns. Their clients are Mom and Pop shops and micro-enterprises to multi-billion-dollar corporations and municipalities.
While two partners run the venture, there are seven other associates with specific skills such as search engine optimization and proofreading on board for projects as needed.
Over the years DiMascio has seen a dramatic change in the way they do business and the services their clients need, and this affects the company’s cash flow, she said.
“We needed to streamline some things for efficiency,“ said DiMascio. “We are small and have a customized and intricate process, but we also have to deal with speed.”
Newkey has had good partnerships with local financial institutions that have provided a revolving line of credit, so the DiMascios have “always operated in the black,” she said.
“I have always gone into a situation and approached it with an honest and open heart,” said DiMascio. “I don’t say, ‘I am a woman, I have an advantage.’ Rather, I believe in my husband’s designs and in our expertise. We are grateful we can use our talents in a positive way. We can rest our heads on our pillows knowing we have provided an extraordinary experience for our clients.”
Visit www.newkeymedia.com for more information.